Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold
Refiner's fire
My heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin
Deep within
Eh oh. Thats a scary song. Do I really want to be "purified" like silver or gold?
Eh oh. I'm ready to make sacrifices, but that?!
Is that truly my heart's one desire? To be holy? Ready to do God's will? It sounds great, but I want it on my terms. Thinking about it, its probably easier just to sing the hymn and nod to the words, no need to actually do anything.
The refining of impure metals is a long process, taking many cycles before the gold or silver is "pure". If I want to truly throw myself into God's hands then I must be prepared for His constant work in my life (or "his life", as I probably should call it). Loads of hymns and songs and a whole reem of Bible passages talk about this process:
"For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver..."
"...when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold."
""And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver,The popular Christian band "Casting Crowns" says, in "Praise you in the Storm":
and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”"
"I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away."Trusting God while around other Christians, while life is going just how I want it to, is tough, but not impossibly so. Trusting God while I am being forced to give up or lose the things which I hold so dear is not so easy. Perhaps one should ponder on why those things have come to mean so much in the first place? After all, is it not God who gave us those things- "In him we live and move and have our being". But seeing our own sinful idolitary (worship of what God has given us, rather than God Himself) is not so easy, especially when being faced with the loss of God's gifts. Many of us prefer to doubt God, or to see ourselves as being the victims in some form of cosmic mugging.
Years ago, one christian man had lost all his money and assets in the American depression. He sent his wife and two children to France on a ship, while he finished closing up his ties in the USA. Shortly after he received a telegram, it simply read, "Ship sunk. Children dead. Come soon." He quickly got passage on another ship heading to France. During that journey he wrote the words of the well known hymn- "It is well with my soul." He knew what it was to have God strengthening him. I thank God that He gives us strength when we need it.
I've always hated it when people describe Christian things as "a challenge". In my mind, a challenge is a tough Suduko puzzle. No, the Christian life is warfare, not a stroll in the park ("More tea, vicar?"). We are assaulting Satan's strongholds, battling him in his own dominion; he does not want us to follow Christ. No one would describe the D-Day landings as "a challenge". It was a fearsome, bloody, putrifying battle; but a necessary one nevertheless. Our daily 'taking up' of the cross will be much the same.
But we are not fighting this battle alone, Jesus has gone on before us, the war is already won! Thanks be to God for the victory!
Jesus used very vivid imagery to describe the purifying of his people. In fact his words smash straight toward our 'modern' 'hedenistic' worldviews:
"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell."This certainly doesn't sound like a "challenge"! Jesus is telling us that we must 'get serious' with sin. Following Jesus will not always be easy, we must be prepared to lose our idolatrous desires and possesions. But he will be with us every step of the way, he will never, ever desert us. He has already walked the path that we are walking. Lets look to him for our strength!
"I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away"
